Letter 3032: It is a well-known truth that the services of the faithful are not lost on us -- what is given in hard times is...

XXXII. KING THEODERIC TO GEMELLUS, MAN OF SPECTABLE RANK. [1] It is established in our judgment that the services of the faithful do not perish, but that what was expended in times of trouble is recovered in better fortune. And so to the people of Arles, who, persevering on our side, endured the want of a glorious siege, our humanity remits our fiscal tributes for the fourth indiction, on this condition: that in time to come they return to their accustomed obligation, so that we may be seen both to have rendered a recompense to those who deserved well, and that the accustomed devotion may not be denied us by them when the situation shall demand it. [2] Let those be satisfied in liberty who chose for our sake to go hungry in their straits; let those be glad who faithfully bore their affliction. It is not fitting that a man who could scarcely avert the final disaster should at once be made anxious about tributes. We seek these things from people at peace, not from the besieged. For what would you exact from the master of a field whom you know not to have cultivated it? They have already given us the precious tribute of their fidelity. It is unjust that paltry sums of money be exacted from those who have offered up their glorious good consciences.

XXXII. GEMELLO V. S. THEODERICUS REX. [1] Constat apud nos fidelium non perire servitia, sed in tristibus impensa recipere in meliore fortuna. Arelatensibus itaque, qui nostris partibus perdurantes gloriosae obsidionis penuriam pertulerunt, per indictionem quartam fiscalia tributa nostra relaxat humanitas, ita ut futuro tempore ad solitam redeant functionem, quatenus et nos bene meritis vicissitudinem reddidisse videamur et ab illis, cum res poposcerit, solita devotio non negetur. [2] Satientur in libertate qui pro nobis in angustiis esurire maluerunt: sint laeti qui tristitiam fideliter pertulerunt. non decet statim de tributis esse sollicitum, qui casum vix potuit declinare postremum. a quietis ista, non obsessis inquirimus. quid enim a domino agri exigas, quem eum non coluisse cognoscas? pretiosum vectigal iam nobis dederunt fidei suae. iniustum est ut viles pecunias exigantur qui gloriosas conscientias obtulerunt.